Seek Giacometti’s “The Palace at 4 a.m.” Go back two hours. See towers and curtain walls of matchsticks, marble, marbles, light, cloud at stasis. Walk in. The beggar queen is dreaming on her throne of words…You have arrived at the web home of Marly Youmans, maker of novels, poetry collections, and stories, as well as the occasional fantasy for younger readers.

Youmans (pronounced like 'yeoman' with an 's' added) is the best-kept secret

among contemporary American writers. --John Wilson, editor, Books and Culture Marly Youmans is a novelist and poet out of sync with the times

but in tune with the ages. --First Things

Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Magnolia Girl

Reading at Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, North Carolina, 2012

"The Magnolia Girl" originally appeared in Books & Culture Magazine.Last summer it was reprinted in the collection The Foliate Head (UK: Stanza Press, 2012.)Since it is Holy Saturday, or Black Saturday, or Easter Eve, I thought a poem involving the curious items of the Devil and repentance might just be in order... Enjoy!

The Magnolia Girl
She climbed the great magnolia tree To learn the ways of bird and bee,
And there the Prince of Darkness came To tempt her with delicious shame.
He bore her up and bore her down, He let her try his royal crown
While leaves went clattering-a-clack Like gossips warning at her back.
A burst of starlight from his face, His every move a sigh of grace—
Could you resist his lightsome wiles, Or stop the arrows of his smiles?
What was a tendency to hiss When set beside a glowing kiss?
In long-ago and far-away,
She danced her dance the livelong day—
She showed him all her naked skin, And what they did was mortal sin.
When boredom dulled his passion’s rage, The Serpent Prince desired a cage;
He jailed her in the blooming tree And spread a lie that she was free.
Addicted to the streaming light
From which her lover once took flight,
She now repents those leisure hours Misspent among magnolia flowers.

Alas, I must once again remind large numbers of Chinese salesmen and other worldwide peddlers that if they fall into the Gulf of Spam, they will be eaten by roaming Balrogs. The rest of you, lovers of grace, poetry, and horses (nod to Yeats--you do not have to be fond of horses), feel free to leave fascinating missives and curious arguments.

The Throne of Psyche

The Ferrol Sams Award; Silver Award in Fiction, ForeWord BOTYAs

UK: Stanza, 2012

"one of the most beautiful books of the 21st century" -Ben Steelman, The Star News, 11/2014

A Death at the White Camellia Orphanagetells of a young boy's travels through the black heart of Depression America & his search for light both metaphorical & real. Writing with a controlled lyrical passion, Marly Youmans has crafted the finest, & the truest period novel I've read in years.Lucius Shepard

KINDRED SPIRITS

Praise for A DEATH AT THE WHITE CAMELLIA ORPHANAGE

*A REVIEWER:"Its themes and the power of its language, the forceful flow of its storyline and its characters have earned the right to a broad national audience"John M. Formy-Duval for About.com.

*A BOOKSELLER:"I agree with one reviewer that said this is destined to be an American classic."Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge Books, NC

photo: R. B. Miller, 8/2013

My friend Marly Youmans is one of America's finest writers. Anyone who knows her work even slightly would have little trouble reaching that conclusion. From the very beginning of my awareness of her work, I realized that her voice was unique, her grasp of technique in poetry and fiction stunning, and her imagination boundless. She seems to combine two impossible-to-resolve things simultaneously: traditional forms and an edgy, almost avant-garde sensibility.-novelist/poet Philip Lee Williams